Nature's Fault
by jxnxyxxng
Summary: They both had a bad week. They both wanted to get away. Coincidentally and unintentionally, they spend a day with each other, and enjoyed in a way that they both didn't really expect.


She had a week of stress.

Yeah, she could manage a pile of homework. She wouldn't break down from having to put up with Ron and Lavender's public displays of affection. It was okay that she was nearing _that_ time of the month and everything just seemed to get under her skin.

But she never imagined being stuck under the rain. She didn't know how to cast a speaking Patronus, and Apparition wasn't quite clear to her yet; besides, she didn't want to splinch herself or anything. She didn't have a mobile phone (she assumed she wouldn't need it). She couldn't use the payphone since Hogwarts didn't have a telephone, and there was a long line too.

And it was _Ginny's_ idea to go out to London instead of just Hogsmeade. _'You'll feel better in London than in Hogsmeade, I promise! I've been there only once, but it was unforgettable!' _She should've just stayed in her warm, cozy bed with an equally as warm and fluffy Crookshanks with an interesting book she could've bought from Hogsmeade, _assuming she went there instead_.

She had actually gone ahead since Ginny was still in the shower. Train tickets weren't always available after lunch.

Now Ginny must've decided it was raining too hard and stayed in the castle, hoping her dear best friend would understand and it wasn't her fault, it was nature's fault.

Nature's fault, her arse.

She stood there with an umbrella she conjured, steaming and muttering and not caring that people were staring at her, wondering if she was all right. She didn't mind anymore. All she wanted was to take a long, hot shower and forget everything existed.

Taking a cab would be useless. What exactly was Hogwarts' address anyway? #56 Middle Of Nowhere Avenue? She could just imagine herself telling the cab driver that her destination was just a hill away. Fuming, she spotted a nice cafe. Who cared if it was crowded with stranded people like her? At least there was coffee, even if she had to wait long for it. She headed towards it and sighed audibly and gratefully at the warmth that engulfed her as she stepped inside. She inhaled the aroma of coffee beans and cinnamon rolls as she sat down by the window. She'll order for food once the line disperses.

It hit her after a minute. How _was_ she going to get back to Hogwarts, let alone make sure that Ginny would send help? How would Ginny even know where in London she was? Hugging her damp messenger bag to her chest, she mused that life would be easier if she was a Muggle. If she had a fully charged mobile phone, one call to her parents and she would be in her cozy bed or she would be having that long bath she was wishing for so badly at the moment.

And then it hit her again. A Floo Network! If she managed to find one, that is. She assumed the nearest would be in the Leaky Cauldron, which was in front of Charing Cross Road. It was only just a few streets away, and the rain came down only a bit lighter now, so hurrying to the counter, so ordered a frappuccino before heading out again into the cold.

* * *

After the eighteen minutes of shivering and wet hair that kept sticking to her face, she stepped into the warm chambers of the Leaky Cauldron, having odd feelings of déjà vécu. It was rowdy and crowded, and for the first time that day, she smiled.

She approached Tom and his eyes lit up when he saw her. "Why, if it isn't Hermione Granger! Haven't seen you and your friends in a while. What brings you here?" he asked cordially.

"I was thinking if I could use your Floo network. I'm sort of in a tight situation now..." she replied. "Is it okay if I can use your fireplace?"

The man looked uneasy. "Well... the problem is, we've ran out of Floo powder, since lots of people today have been using it..."

"You _cannot_ be serious!" she cried, nearing tears. She can't think of anything else on how to get back to the damned castle, unless she had to go out again to buy the Floo powder...

And that's what Tom suggested.

She made a face at him and muttered profanities to herself as she slid off the stool, feeling Tom's pitiful eyes on her head as she headed towards the back door. She tapped the corresponding brick thrice and entered Diagon Alley.

It was raining harder than ever and she gave up on using the stupid umbrella. She cast Impervius on herself and felt lighter that she couldn't feel the heavy raindrops touch her head. Drying her clothes with her wand, she wandered around, wondering if any of the apothecaries would be selling the powder.

She asked around, and all of the people she asked either shrugged or said they didn't know. In bad spirits, she set her eyes on another person and wondered if she would have a stroke of luck. Reaching out her hand to tap the man's shoulder, she said, "Excuse me, but do you happen to-"

The back turned, and to her surprise, it was Draco Malfoy. What on earth would he be doing in Diagon Alley, and on a rainy day like this? Malfoy seemed shocked, and then his face morphed into something she couldn't read. He spun on his heels and walked quickly away.

Rooted to the spot, she wondered why he was in such a hurry. Then she remembered the times Harry kept telling her about his suspicions of Malfoy, and cursed herself for being so slow. She tried to follow him, her legs taking long strides. She finally spotted him ducking inside Magical Menagerie, and she followed suit.

She took a fistful of his black coat and pulled him towards her. "Care to tell me what your business here is?" Oh no, wrong question.

"I don't see how it is of your concern," he spat, jerking away from her. Her nose wrinkled, mostly because of the smell of the place. It was not so bad, but it was disturbing her nasal airways.

"You know what, I don't really care anymore," she replied, folding her arms. Malfoy looked surprised, but he recovered quickly. "I just need your help. Do you know where to buy Floo powder?" she asked. He didn't answer for a while and just stared at her. She stared back. His gray eyes weren't entirely gray after all. There were some hints of blue, but maybe it was just a trick of the light.

"Why don't we make a deal, then? Do something for me, and I'll tell you where they sell the powder," he said finally, a nasty smile playing on his lips. Hermione frowned. Whatever deal he wanted to make can't be good. At all. But considering her desperation, she had half a mind to do her part of the it, no matter what it was.

"Tell me what I have to do first, then I'll see if it's worth losing my face for," she answered.

Malfoy ran a hand through his wet hair. "Fine," he said. "I need you to go into Borgin & Burkes and buy anything you want. I'll give you the money."

Were her ears playing tricks on her, or was Malfoy actually serious? "Buy anything I want? This doesn't seem like a fair deal to you," she said. Not that she cared, of course.

"Aw," he said mockingly, pouting his lips at her. "Your little Gryffindor lion is showing." He sneered scornfully. "Trust me, you're doing something I would rather not do." He walked past her to the exit and she had no choice but to follow.

"And what will that 'something' be?" she inquired. Was he here to do his evil shenanigans again, but telling her to do it so that she'll be taking part (or all) of the blame? Or was it just because he was lazy?

He pulled out a pouch of Galleons and held it in front of her. "Do it first and I'll explain. Then I'll tell you where you can get the Floo powder."

She was smart enough to say no. But she didn't. "Tell me first."

He raised his eyebrows. "Oh, so that's your decision?" He pocketed the pouch. "Well, then, I guess that's too bad..."

Hermione wanted to scream.

"Okay, fine! I'll do it. But if this gets me in trouble, I have lots of concrete evidence to put the blame on you, _ferret_," she hissed, snatching the pouch from him as she thought of the different things that could count as evidence, since she obviously didn't have any, and from the arrogant look on Malfoy's face, he knew too. Probably only Harry and Ron would believe her if she was to tell anyone.

The two made their way to Knockturn Alley. Malfoy seemed at ease, as if he had been here a few times before, which he probably had. Hermione, on the other hand, felt like running back the way the came from. The atmosphere of the place just didn't make her comfortable.

"Say you're a very shallow, materialistic girl. What would you buy?" he told her.

"Jewelry?" she said, it being the first word that came to her mind.

"Yes. Now don't get any cursed ones, all right?" he said, a light smile on his face.

She looked skeptically at his face. "You're creeping me out, Malfoy. Don't ever smile like that again," she said as she entered the shop, leaving him amused.

* * *

Hanging out with Granger wasn't that bad, he discovered. She was fun to tease. Despite the careless way she held herself, he found himself sort of drawn to her. Spending his time with Pansy and her posse wasn't that much a privilege, despite the opinions of the other girls in his House that were not ranked so high in terms of fame.

Being with Granger right now felt like the much-needed break he was craving for so long. Not that he would admit it to anyone, though.

The purpose behind his proposition was too embarrassing to tell her, but he had to in the end. It all started when he and Pansy had gotten a bit (just a little bit) drunk on their date last week, and they started getting it on in one of those dark alleys. But it was cut off when she said it was getting cold and late and she wanted to go home because her head ached. Being the gentleman that he is, he brought her back, supporting her on the way.

...he doesn't even like Pansy that way.

The next day, she went to him and complained that she was missing her bracelet. '_You know, the silver one I was wearing yesterday! I think it fell when we were... you know!_' She didn't talk to him for the whole day and for the next few days. Daphne Greengrass confided in him yesterday that Pansy has been expecting him to get her something new to make up for the bracelet. He blinked and decided he would go out the next day to get the damned thing replaced. For one thing, he didn't like being ignored, and he was longing for someone to get frisky with.

'_Oh and just a hint, she's been wanting something from Diagon Alley. I forgot the store's name, but would you check it out? She'll sure be happy then.'_

Go to Diagon Alley, she said. Pansy wants something from there, she said. Then it rained and he grew sullen. He didn't have a single inkling of what Pansy actually liked. Until Granger came along and so far, she had been entertaining company. What her real purpose of being out here, he had yet to find out. Running into Granger was also beneficial, since, considering she was a female, he could just let her pick out what thing he should get Pansy, better than picking something out himself which might not get the appreciation it's supposed to.

He just had to hope that Granger was just as girly as the next girl.

When Granger finally went out to meet him, it had stopped raining. "Finally. So what d'you get?"

She smirked and held up a golden necklace with a ruby pendant. Malfoy groaned internally. She just _had_ to get something Gryffindor-ish. "Like it, Malfoy?" she said. "Got it for 13 Galleons and 50 Sickles. Of course, I had to ask for a discount. But I have enough change for two cones of ice cream."

He gave her a forced smile and she gave one back. He tried to take the necklace, but she jerked it out of his reach. She cocked her head to right. "I think you're forgetting your part of the deal?"

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Fine. We'll get the powder _after_ we get some ice cream."

They walked out of Knockturn Alley (he noticed her evidently sighing in relief) and headed towards Florean Fortescue's. "I'll get a strawberry with peanut butter sundae," initiated Granger, "and this bloke over here would like the same thing." Malfoy looked at her incredulously and he was about to protest but she cut him off. "Trust me. Harry let me taste his before and it's similar to having unicorns vomiting rainbows into your mouth, all at the same time."

He smiled. "Not that they really do. Puke rainbows, I mean."

"Precisely."

* * *

"So the reason you're here is because your girlfriend thinks that it's your fault she lost her bracelet?" she clarified between fits of laughter.

He hadn't thought of it that way, but maybe it's what goes on in girls' heads. "Partly. Also because I didn't really want to run into anyone from school. I mean, who goes to Diagon Alley when there's Hogsmeade just a walk away, right?" he said, smiling.

"But you did run into someone, which would be me," she countered.

"No. Technically, _you_ ran into _me_," he replied loftily, pointing the spoon at her.

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You have ice cream on your chin." He hastily wiped the pink cream off with his hand, and she said, "Oh no, I meant your _other _chin," her eyes laughing.

They bickered for a few minutes about fatness and double chins ("If anyone's to be called fat, it's you, not me!" cried Malfoy indignantly as he shoved a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth.), then they sobered.

"Just to be clear though, I don't like Pansy. She's just good company whenever I'm bored," he said, looking at her pointedly, letting her know the double meaning behind his statement.

"You're cruel," she said in a monotone, "but I'm not surprised. We're 16, it's understandable nonetheless. What if she genuinely liked you, though?" she asked, looking at him with an eyebrow raised. The sun had reappeared, and he looked into her chocolate brown eyes. There were golden specks in there, he noticed. Probably reflected from the sun.

"To be honest, I don't know. Whether she liked me or not, that is. There's just this mutual need between us, and we both fit each other's criteria. No one else can replace the other. I guess you can call us friends with benefits, if you want to be frank," he replied, then shrugged. But if asked if he _liked_ like Pansy, he knew where he stood.

"I see," she said thoughtfully. There was a glassy look in her eyes, and Malfoy could see it.

"I heard Weasley and Brown are together now," he mentioned, giving her a sidelong glance, carefully waiting for her reaction.

She shrugged. Not exactly what he was look for, but all right. "He has the right to see whoever he likes, even the daft ones," she said without emotion. "Before he started dating Lavender, he's been saying things like he's been really lonely and all that, and it just sickens me, you know? He's so full of self-pity." She turned to look at him. Still, her face betrays no emotion, but her voice did. "I feel like he's just using Lavender to replace his needs. How low can you actually get? I don't look up to Lavender, but I don't hate her that much either."

"He just likes her body. All guys at this age generally like curvy girls. Come to think of it, even Pansy's curvy," he replied, "and sometimes guys just want to dick around with girls mostly because of their figure. Even I do that." Hermione gave him a knowing look. He recovered, saying, "But in the end, most boys like someone on whom they can count, regardless of how they actually look like."

"You're right," she said after a while, "but that doesn't change my wanting to be attractive to someone, and not just because of my physical appearance."

"Considering you're lacking in that department," he drawled. She wrinkled her nose at him and he smiled cheekily. He wouldn't admit it, but her physique had improved remarkably since Fourth Year. There were those bumps in her chest, and they were actually visible! She had grown a bit taller, her face was less round and her hair was less bushy. Okay, maybe he noticed more than he thought, but with her at such close proximity, he couldn't help it.

"Say what you want. At least I'm not a horny teenager with sex on her mind all day. At least I have priorities," she said haughtily, putting a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

Malfoy had a look of surrender on his face. It felt nice to be out with a girl who didn't make it obvious she wanted to get laid. Not that Granger seemed to want to. She doesn't look the type.

"Hey, why don't we get that Floo powder now and head back?"

* * *

Hermione felt the flames around her die down as she stepped out of the fireplace. Malfoy followed suit, coughing out dust.

"So," she said, "do we or do we not let this rendezvous get around?"

Malfoy looked up. "I think it's best we turn back into our natural personalities. You know, being enemies and all that," he replied.

"Well then, thanks for today, and I hope to not see your face again tomorrow, Malfoy," she said and smiled.

"Same goes to you, Granger."

The couple exited The Great Hall, not looking back, but with smiles on their faces. Their days weren't ruined completely, at least.

* * *

_**A/N:** __This fic was supposed to be dedicated to the victims of the monsoon in the Philippines, but then it turned out to be something like this. If you have the chance, please try to help out in any way! I myself feel guilty for not doing anything in my power to help. Anyway, (big) thanks to a friend who pointed out that you can't use a Floo Network to get to Hogwarts, and for those perceptive enough to see that, let's just make an exception, yeah?_


End file.
